Hip-Hop Reacts to The Death of De La Soul’s Trugoy The Dove

zo Zo is a staff writer at Okayplayer where he covers…
David Jolicoeur, aka Trugoy, of De La Soul performs live on stage during the 'Gods of Rap' Tour at Wembley Arena on May 10, 2019 in London, England.
Photo by Jim Dyson via Getty Images.

Trugoy The Dove was 54 years old.

On the evening of Sunday, February 12th, a representative of De La Soul confirmed the death of founding member, David Jolicoeur, who rapped in the group as Trugoy The Dove. A cause, along with where and when the rapper passed, has yet to be revealed. Trugoy was 54 years old.

In recent years, Jolicoeur had openly discussed his battle with congestive heart failure. “The diagnosis that I received, as soon as I got home from the hospital, was that congestive heart failure was working itself on me again,” the rapper recounted in the opening of a video for “Royalty Capes,” a single from De La Soul’s 2016 album, And The Anonymous Nobody (see below.) The group discussed it again in a 2020 live session when Jolicoeur was hospitalized during a scare.

Released independently, And The Anonymous Nobody remains one of only two albums from the group’s revered catalog currently available to stream. Compounding the tragedy, the remaining seven albums are due to arrive on DSPs in just a few weeks following a long-fought to battle to clear outstanding sample fees and reclaim the rights to their music.

In the hours since the death of Trugoy was announced, peers, fans, and former collaborators have shared memories and tributes to the rapper on social media, including Prince Paul, A-Trak, Chuck D, and others.

You can read through their reactions below.

Questlove

 

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DJ Prince Paul

Chuck D 

Cypress Hill

A-Trak

Jason Demarco

DJ Premier

Open Mike Eagle

Ben ‘Lambo’ Lamber

R.A. the Rugged Man

Bumpy Knuckles

Ill Camille

DJ Semtex

LAKIM

Natasha Diggs

B-Real

Skyzoo

Erick Sermon

 

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KAYTRANADA

Robert Glasper

 

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Evidence

LL Cool J

 

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Pharrell

Busta Rhymes 

 

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Jarobi White

 

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Redman

 

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9th Wonder

 

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Monica Lynch

 

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Styles P

 

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Royce 5’9”

 

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M.C. Serch

 

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Kid Capri 

Nas

 

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Hi-Tek

 

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Dante Ross

 

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Statik Selektah

 

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Large Professor 

 

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Young Guru 

 

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Diamond D 

 

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Bryan-Michael Cox

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